Depression

Depression arises because people feel trapped in an unbalanced attitude. The way to overcome it is to untangle the knots that bind them; these are knots are difficult situations or traumatic events not resolved by the individual.

What is depression?

Depression (major depressive disorder) is a serious psychopathology that negatively affects a person’s way of thinking, feelings, and behaviors.

This affects one in 15 people of adulthood (6.7%) in one year. Depression can strike at any time, but it usually first appears during adolescence.

The female gender is more prone to experiencing depression. Some studies show that one third of women will experience at least one depressive episode in their lifetime.

People with depression usually feel sad, dejected or miserable most of the time and lose interest in their usual activities . These symptoms can occur for a long time or for several short periods.

Causes of depression

According to research, depression is genetically transmitted . For example, if a father is depressed, his son will have a 70 percent chance of suffering from this psychopathology at some point in his life.

Depression can be triggered by other factors in addition to biological factors. These other factors that influence as triggers in depression are:  personality and environmental factors.

Pessimistic people, with low self-esteem  and low self-confidence , are generally overwhelmed by stress and are more likely to suffer from depression.

Among environmental factors, we can highlight that individuals who have continuous exposure to violence , neglect, abuse or poverty may be more vulnerable to depression.

How is depression diagnosed?

To create a diagnosis of depression, a professional must take into account certain bases:

Perform physical examination: A physical examination should be performed to rule out that the depression is related to an underlying physical health problem. In addition to the exam, the doctor will review the patient’s medical history and may ask questions about their daily habits.

Laboratory tests : In addition to performing a physical exam, the professional in charge of the case can send a blood test to measure that the thyroid levels are within the normal range, since the thyroid is one of the physical problems that can cause depression in people.

Perform a psychological or psychiatric evaluation:  A trained mental health professional will ask you questions about your symptoms, feelings, your mood, your thoughts, and will evaluate your behavior.

Diagnosis of depression: After the psychiatric or psychological evaluation, your mental health professional must make a diagnosis according to the Manual of Diagnosis and Statistics of Mental Disorders. This diagnosis will determine if the patient is experiencing a major depressive picture.

Symptoms of depression

• Feeling sad and depressed mood
• They stop doing their homework at work or school
• Loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities
• They isolate themselves from the environment
• Changes in appetite and eating disorders
• They have low self-esteem , irritability, frustration and little self-confidence
• They can create dependence on drugs
• Insomnia or other  types of sleep disorders
• Loss of energy and physical and emotional fatigue
• Slow movements and speech (actions observable by others)
• Guilt
• Difficulties thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide

How does depression affect other mental disorders?

Usually the pictures of major depression have been related to other mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders, panic attacks , different types of phobias , personality disorders – such as antisocial disorder -.

When people start a depressive picture, they begin to see a change in the middle prefrontal cortex of the brain. Usually the middle prefrontal cortex is activated in healthy people when the person thinks of himself or presents some concern, but this activation generally occurs at low or medium levels; on the contrary of people who are diagnosed with depression, where the level of activation of the middle prefrontal cortex tends to be very high.

According to research, that same area of ​​the brain that is activated by depression is also activated by the presence of other disorders, for example: anxiety disorder . Depression and anxiety disorders are usually accompanied , since people who suffer from depression tend to have symptoms of anxiety and people who suffer from anxiety tend to have depressive episodes .

Treatments for depression

Treating depression takes time and patience.

There are a large number of effective therapeutic approaches used for the treatment of depression today, one of them is cognitive behavioral therapy also used for the treatment of various types of personality disorders. This therapy does not try to combat depression, but rather tries to make patients aware of what they can do, at that moment, to help change the way they feel.

Another treatment is  psychotherapy . In it, his psychotherapist will try to investigate his feelings and hidden memories , to find the focus of this disorder . Most psychotherapy treatments for depression generally take 6 to 12 months, attending a 50-minute session once a week.

When depression treatment does not work under psychological methods, your psychotherapist will refer you to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist may prescribe medications to reduce the symptoms of this disorder.

If the patient does not improve with psychotherapy and medications, and presents a picture of chronic depression with behaviors that put his life at risk, the professional should evaluate hospitalizing the patient to preserve his physical and mental health.